Federal appeals court orders stay of execution in Oklahoma

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — A federal appeals court has ordered a stay of execution for an Oklahoma inmate to remain in effect while the full court considers the case.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 6-4 late Thursday that a stay of execution granted by a lower court will remain in effect for 56-year-old Garry Allen.

A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Attorney General's office says it has appealed the 10th Circuit ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court and expects a final ruling later Thursday.

Allen was scheduled to die at 6 p.m. Thursday for the 1986 shooting death of the mother of two of his children outside an Oklahoma City daycare center, but a federal district judge ordered a stay of execution.

Allen's attorneys maintain he is mentally incompetent and are challenging Oklahoma's procedure for determining insanity.